blonde

Pluralblondes

1. 1
   adjective

   Alternative form of blond, describing fair or light-colored hair.

   Her naturally blonde curls darkened a little each winter.

   The portrait showed a young woman with blonde braids.

   Note

   The gender split shows most clearly side by side: Meg Burden's Northlander (2007) fills a room with "blond men and blonde women." The comparative and superlative can be formed either way, blonder and blondest or more blonde and most blonde. The word is not confined to hair, either. S. R. Crockett in 1895 writes of "the crisper blonde luxuriance of August."

2. 2
   nouncountable

   Alternative form of blond, meaning a person with fair hair, especially a woman.

   A tall blonde in a green coat waited by the station clock.

   The photographer asked the blonde to turn toward the light.

   Note

   The spelling carries French grammar into English. Middle French blonde was the feminine form, which is why the -e version is used especially of women, while blond covers men and people in general. Writers who keep the distinction write a blond for a man and a blonde for a woman. As a noun for a person it is countable: a blonde, two blondes.

3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Alternative form of blond, meaning a pale yellowish or golden hair color.

   The salon mixed a warm honey blonde for her highlights.

   Years of sunlight had faded her hair to a light blonde.

   Note

   As a color word it counts both ways. It is uncountable for the color itself, as in hair faded to blonde, and countable for a particular shade, as in a warm honey blonde. The shade runs from pale yellow toward golden brown. The final -e is the same French feminine ending explained under the fair-haired person.

4. 4
   adjectiveoffensive

   Stupid, ignorant, or naive, especially when said of a woman; the usage is offensive.

   "You're so blonde sometimes," he teased, and she told him flatly that the remark was insulting.

   I felt so blonde when I realized I'd spent a full minute pushing a door marked "pull."

   Similarditzy, dumb, dim, silly

   Oppositesmart, clever

   Note

   An insult that borrows the hair-color meaning and aims it chiefly at women. It almost always follows so or just, as in "you are just so blonde" or "I was so blonde," and it drives a joke frame: "she was so blonde, she studied for a blood test." People also use it to mock themselves, but it remains offensive, so avoid it outside close banter.

5. 5
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Alternative form of blond, meaning a pale, light-colored ale.

   The brewery's summer blonde sells out within days of release.

   She paired the grilled fish with a refreshing Belgian blonde.

6. 6
   verb

   Alternative form of blond, meaning to lighten hair to a fair shade.

   He decided to blonde his beard for the costume party.

   Salons sometimes blonde a single section to create contrast.

   Note

   A transitive verb that takes the hair as its object: LIFE in 1964 writes of "women who blonde their hair." It inflects regularly as blondes, blonding and blonded. The feminine -e described under the fair-haired person fits a verb used especially of women, though the plain blond serves equally well.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A 2,000-watt lamp used in film, television, and theater lighting.

   The gaffer angled a blonde to fill the shadows across the set.

   Two blondes lit the interview backdrop evenly from either side.

   Note

   Lighting crews have their own color-coded kit. Colin Hart's Television Program Making (2012) describes blondes as 2000-watt lamps, traditionally with yellow heads or shells, used to light fairly large areas. Crews also call them 2Ks. Their smaller companions are redheads, 800-watt lamps. A crew typically carries a mix of both, and on set the plural blondes refers to the equipment.

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